Luigi Bocconi University, Milan
Grafton Architects

The new Luigi Bocconi University building merges into the Milan urban landscape in an understated yet distinctive way. Cutting deep into the ground, the architect has created an underground village made up of lecture theatres and conference halls, a theatre and, as if hanging in the air, offices for the academic body. It is almost a city within a city. The world of research is physically separated but still visually linked to what goes on in the lower levels of the building. The inspiration for this work comes from the building closest to Milan’s Duomo, Il Broletto – a medieval building used as a market hall. Like inhabited awnings, the offices become transparent filters letting in the sunlight to the lower levels.
The Aula Magna, described by its architects as a “window on Milan”, runs the length of a busy road.   With its cantilevered construction, reminiscent of the Russian constructivist movement or of some of James Stirling’s buildings, it is right next to the street. It acts as an anchor for the whole building.
Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, from the Irish Grafton Architects agency, designed the building as a filter between the city and the university. The project also stresses the public and social aspects of university life. With a contemporary architectural idiom, the two architects define their building as an interaction between materials and the landscape, between architecture and urban space. A glass wall fuses the internal and outdoor public spaces together.